UN Says 2012 Global Disaster Loss Is $138 Billion

Rappler.com reports global losses from natural disasters of $138 billion in 2012, according to the United Nations. Half that amount can be attributed to drought and Superstorm Sandy in the United States, according to yesterday’s report.

Sandy caused about $50 billion of the losses recorded in 2012, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) said. A drought in the U.S. also cost $20 billion.

This was the third consecutive year in which losses linked to natural disasters topped $100 billion, and the 10th in the past three decades, UNISDR said.

“A review of economic losses caused by major disaster events since 1980 shows that since the mid-90s there has been a rise,” UNISDR chief Elizabeth Longworth told reporters. “This has turned into an upwards trend as confirmed by losses from last year when, despite no mega-disaster such as a major urban earthquake, economic losses are conservatively estimated in the region of $138 billion,” she said.